Shatter Me
by Embrium
Summary: A continuation of Friend Is A Four Letter Word, inspired by Lindsey Stirlings new album Shatter Me which I do not own, I'm just borrowing it and playing in Biowares sandbox. Shepard needs her stress release and she's found an outlet.


Ch 1. Beyond The Veil

She couldn't say exactly what events led to her current predicament but she was absolutely certain in the knowledge that she had escaped the Normandy undetected with the help of the resident thief. Weeks of missions and lack of sleep had led to this craving. She didn't want the hollow feeling violence promised when she needed to blow off steam and since sex wasn't an option either she had to resort to her oldest method. Garrus had caught her weeks ago and they had since made up and apologized over the whole incident, but she never explained. This was _her_ stress release, the fact that it happened to make a few extra creds was a perk, but that wasn't her motivation, it was in the beginning but not at the moment. So here she stood, clad in a black breast band and a tiny violet skirt, in the dancers quarters of the club Nostalgia on Illium. She wanted to blame this all on Kaidan and Horizon and his damnable message afterward, but the little voice in the back of her mind said this was all on her. She leaned forward and placed her hands on the counter before her as one of the other dancers, Sonia or Sara whatever her name was, came up behind her with a little tin of smart paint. She hung her head forward as the other woman proceeded to draw what felt like swirls, in lavender paint, on the back of her neck and between her shoulder blades.

"Alright babe, you're all set. This your first time wearing smart paint?" Shepard looked over her shoulder and nodded. "The paint will tingle when it starts working and will spread as far as it's been programmed to. It's already been preprogrammed to the beat of the songs but it'll self adjust to the way you move as well, so just relax and remember to let go."

Shepard chuckled and glanced at the other woman's retreating form as she moved onto the next dancer. She turned and took in the design on her back. She couldn't say she liked the swirls much but the tribal wings within the circle between her shoulder blades was definitely beautiful. She thought briefly of reconsidering her stance on tattoos when her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar face beside hers.

"Ivy does beautiful work doesn't she?" Shepard grimaced at her own reflection as the curvy redhead beside her threw her head back and laughed. "You never were good with names were you? Don't worry I'm sure after tonight it won't matter, I doubt you'll want,or be around, to do this again."

"Well you know me Senna, I'm always willing to help out a friend but it may be difficult to get away."

Shepard reached for her make up for the night just as Senna picked it up and Shepards comm pinged with an incoming message. Frowning, Shepard allowed her head to be tilted upward for make up application as Kasumis' voice flitted through the cleverly hidden comm in her borrowed star shaped earrings.

_"Your tracks are covered and you are officially asleep for the night. See you at 0300 Shep."_

The next few minutes she allowed her old partner in crime to tilt her face this way and that to further disguise her. She'd allowed Kasumi to cut her hair earlier. It was cropped short in the back, exposing the back of her neck. She'd left the front long to help hide Shepards face and given her bangs long enough to help hide her eyes if anyone looked too closely.

"All done Ace." In a lower voice she added. "No one will recognize you and I've had my girls deal with surveillance so tonight's performance footage will be corrupted and unsalvagable."

Shepard managed a devious smirk before turning to look at her reflection. Senna and Kasumi had done a marvelous job with her appearance. She almost wanted to keep the cosmetics but she didn't think she could deal with black eye shadow and blood red lipstick every day. She was certain if she slicked back her hair from now on she could occasionally go out for one of her _solo_ missions whenever the mood struck. The sudden excitement in the room drew her attention to the other women. A few had linked arms and proceeded to walk each other out towards the waiting crowd. Suddenly she was all to aware of how little she wore and her complete lack of weapons. For a moment she cursed herself for not bringing _someone_ along for back up. Then she remembered no one knew who she was and Nostalgia wasn't the most well known club on Illium. She walked out on the stage arm in arm with Senna, the brains behind the show, the smart paint, and Nostalgia.

The lights in the club dimmed as Shepard took her place beside a stripper pole. The layout of the club was unique, a large circular room with three levels. There were five platforms with poles for the dancers around each level, providing an excellent view for the patrons but raised and extended far enough to prevent the dancers from being grabbed. A platform large enough for a live band or the star dancer for the evening could be raised from the main dance floor and reach as high as the second level. Shepard had been placed on the second level near one of the less crowded spots, the plan was that she would attract far less attention with her plain appearance and lack of _assets_. With the other dancers painted all over with more vibrant colors and wearing more detailed and revealing costumes, it stood to reason that Shepard would be largely ignored and easily forgotten by the patrons. The night would be more for Shepard than anyone else, she was free to dance the way her body and biotics demanded in a club that paid homage to the god of music by playing centuries old songs from Earths past, back when songs had meaning and souls of their own.

Shepard closed her eyes and leaned back, hands gripping the pole behind her. She'd listened to tonight's album for the past week, and every time her body responded with the need to move and relax at the same time to every song, it was how she knew it was_the one_. She couldn't lose control, she probably never would, but she could let go to Lindsey Stirlings Shatter Me. She knew the show schedule, the first round would be the original score then after that the rest of the night would be the remix album. Each song would be blended with club music and played on a loop, seamlessly blending into each other until it was all one song, and by that time she will have had her fill and be back on the Normandy before her disappearance was discovered.

Music flowed through the club and her body began to glow and move in time with the beat, slowly at first and then the melody of the violin became her partner. She let go and allowed herself to follow where it led.


End file.
